A Missy Elliott medley, a male-female duet on “I Kissed a Girl” and a pyrotechnic finale: Katy’s Super Bowl performance had it all.
Katy Perry’s halftime performance at Super Bowl XLIX, hyped for months and anticipated by millions, did not disappoint. Taking the University of Phoenix Stadium field in Glendale, Ariz. halfway through the matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, Perry plowed through her plentiful collection of hits with the help of some special guests, Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott.
Wearing a flame-adorned dress (all of Perry’s outfits were designed by Jeremy Scott) and her hair in a black ponytail, Perry kicked off the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show perched atop a moving gold tiger, which strolled spectacularly across the field as the pop superstar performed “Roar” live. The stage then became a breathing chessboard for “Dark Horse,” another No. 1 hit from Perry’s latest album, PRISM. Acrobats flipped beside Perry as the stage turned three-dimensional, and the singer welcomed her first guest: Lenny Kravitz.
Flames exploded behind Perry and Kravitz as the pair combined for an unlikely duet of “I Kissed a Girl.” Very soon after, the stage segued into a breezy beach setting, with dancing sharks, bopping palm trees and smiling beach balls helping Perry out with a performance of “Teenage Dream.”
Another Teenage Dream smash, “California Gurls,” was quickly performed before Perry brought another guest, Missy Elliott to the stage; the veteran rapper tore through “Get Ur Freak On” and “Work It” as Perry played hype-woman while wearing a custom Super Bowl 49 jersey. Perry disappeared briefly as Missy Elliott performed “Lose Control,” and returned sporting a star-encrusted gown for the finale of “Firework.”
Rising from the middle of the field on a tiny platform, Perry circled the stadium and waved to the adoring crowd during the climactic performance. There were glowing orbs on the field, and of course, fireworks exploding around Perry as she delivered the self-empowerment anthem. It was a fittingly explosive ending to a fiery performance, one that serves as a career highlight for the pop superstar.
